The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success."

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Combating Military Sexual Assault

Senator Patty Murray (above), the Chair of the Senate Budget
Committee, and Senator Kelly Ayotte are sponsoring a bill "Combating Military Sexual Assault (MSA) Act of
2013." Senator Murray's spoke on the Senate floor about the
bill (you can stream that here).
Friday, her office noted:

Senator Murray’s
legislation to reduce sexual assaults within the military and provide greater
resources to the victims of this crime, the Combating Military Sexual Assault
Act of 2013: Legislation, Summary, Cosponsors

“The services
have struggled for decades with pervasive sexual assault in the ranks. SWAN has
been at the forefront of demanding institutional changes that would help improve
this crisis and transform military culture. The Combating Military Sexual
Assault Act introduced today by Senator Patty Murray and Senator Kelly Ayotte
contains many provisions that will give the military the tools it needs to
combat this widespread problem. Common-sense solutions like providing victims
with their own designated lawyers, criminalizing sexual relationships between
basic training instructors and students, and making sure that our National Guard
troops have access to the same resources that active duty service members have
are critical in making sure that survivors are supported and that offenders will
be better prosecuted."

“The 380,000
member Military Officers Association of America strongly endorses the Combating
Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013. Preventing sexual assault is a duty of
everyone in the chain of command. This legislation will increase support for
sexual assault victims and strengthen policies and procedures for such cases in
our nation’s Armed Forces.”

-MOAA national
President, VADM Norb Ryan, USN-ret.

“The Association
of the United States Navy strongly support the Combating Military Sexual Assault
Act. The number of sexual assault cases is unacceptable and reflects the need
for immediate action as the Department of Defense has reported. This bill will
help set in place the right oversight and stronger processes needed to protect
our Sailors, men and women.”

-AUSN Executive
Director, RADM Casey Coane, USN-ret.

"In light of the
Pentagon's announcement that an estimated 26,000 cases of sexual assault
occurred in the military in 2012 alone, the Combating Military Sexual Assault
Act of 2013 is a necessary step to protect victims and hold perpetrators
accountable. The effects in our culture of victim-blaming, cover-up and misogyny
goes far beyond individual cases of criminal justice to be pervasive throughout
the military. Survivors of military rape should have all the means they need to
recover from their trauma, and the CMSA's provisions will help ensure these
resources are available. NOW is glad to support Sens. Murray & Ayotte's
legislation in the hope that it will improve the lives of the millions of female
(and male) members of the military.”

-Terry O’Neill, National
Organization for Women President

“The special
victims counsels have helped...typically it's 30 percent, as I mentioned, of our
victims who won't -- continue through prosecution, even after making an
unrestricted report. So far, the 265 assigned special victims counsels, two have
done that. That's a great trend. We must now continue it. One of the other
problems we have is that we have never had people who make restricted reports
initially change from a restricted to unrestricted at a very high rate so that
we can investigate and potentially prosecute those cases. About 17 percent of
our reportees in the past have changed from a restricted mode to an
unrestricted. Of the victims who have special victims counsel assigned, that
number is tracking at 55 percent right now. And it's rising slowly as confidence
grows. We have to continue that trend.”

When our best and brightest don a U.S.
military uniform, they do so with the understanding that they will sacrifice
much to defend our country from dangerous threats. But they shouldn’t have to
face a threat from within their own ranks.

Twice in two weeks, the very people in the
military who are responsible for protecting victims of sexual assault have been
accused of committing these crimes. These incidents are disturbing — and the
secretary of defense must act swiftly to re-examine sexual assault services
across the department. It is also time for Congress to enact legislation that
gives victims the protections they deserve to seek justice and provides the
Pentagon with the necessary tools to deal with this growing crisis. When a
service member fails to live up to our values and commits sexual assault, we
must ensure he or she is held accountable and that victims can come forward
without fear of retribution.

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Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, "Ava" started out this site as five students enrolled in journalism in NY. Now? We're still students. We're in CA. Journalism? The majority scoffs at the notion.
From the start, at the very start, C.I. of The Common Ills has helped with the writing here. C.I.'s part of our core six/gang. (C.I. and Ava write the TV commentaries by themselves.) So that's the six of us. We also credit Dallas as our link locator, soundboard and much more. We try to remember to thank him each week (don't always remember to note it here) but we'll note him in this. So this is a site by the gang/core six: Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I. (of The Common Ills).